Biography of enigmatic musician Sixto Rodriguez. Not rated. Angelika, Lincoln Plaza.
“How do you solve a mystery?” Malik Bendjelloul’s outstanding debut documentary suggests that “you use whatever information is available.” Bendjelloul
starts there, in his captivating search for the long-lost musician Sixto Rodriguez. But then he keeps going, drawing so much meaning from his discoveries
that he winds up turning Rodriguez’s very life into art itself.
Born and raised in Detroit, Rodriguez was a political folk singer who released two striking albums in the early ’70s. Virtually no one cared. Except, by
some random miracle, in South Africa, where he became “bigger than Elvis” and inspired a generation of anti-apartheid activists.
With no idea of these developments, he remained in Detroit, working hard labor and skirting homelessness. And then ... what? Did he really kill himself
onstage, as fans insisted? Did he disappear into the streets? Or did something else happen entirely?
Though Bendjelloul solves that central mystery, he leaves other threads untied. It’s a wise and appropriately jarring choice, a reminder that we aren’t
entitled to know everything about our idols. What’s more important is the power of their art, to speak to our souls and possibly even change our lives.
Rodriguez’s story is almost inconceivable in an obsessively magnified, heavily hyped Internet era. Which makes it all the more important to be shared.
Listen, be moved, and pass it on.
AI WEIWEI: NEVER SORRY — 3 stars
Biography of the celebrated Chinese artist-dissident (1:31). R: Language. IFC Center. In English and Mandarin with subtitles.
Alison Klayman’s chronicle of Chinese artist and activist Ai Weiwei is so straightforward that one can’t help wishing the subject would make his own, more
complex cinematic self-portrait. But for now, Klayman has provided a valuable introduction to a man everyone should know.
In 2011, Ai showcased his art worldwide, was a finalist for Time’s Person of the Year, and was jailed by his own government. Klayman mostly documents the
work that led up to his arrest, including several direct provocations with law enforcement.
We also learn about his early years in Manhattan, the birth of a child he never expected to have, and the mother who still worries — with reason — about
his heroically rebellious spirit. This is Klayman’s first film, and she’s unable to transcend the limits of her too-traditional biographical structure.
But Ai is such a compelling figure that it’s worthwhile to learn more about him in every way we can.
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